


Cor Has A Bad Time

by Tevlyn_Tauly



Series: My Precious Night Light [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Gen, Human Experimentation, Travelling with a baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-25 09:32:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18258584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tevlyn_Tauly/pseuds/Tevlyn_Tauly
Summary: Cor was sent on a mission.Cor finished the mission.Cor brought something home from the mission and has to let it go.





	Cor Has A Bad Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quicksilver_nightsky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksilver_nightsky/gifts), [NoctAnotherOne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoctAnotherOne/gifts).



A mission had come up, one that required the best. Unfortunately, for Cor ‘The Immortal’ Leonis, that was him. He had been assisting the King with the tiny Prince, when Noctis was not growling and fussing at the large Alpha being near the Omega King. It turned out Noctis was an Alpha, and though he was a tiny four-month-old infant, he was very possessive and protective of his Omega Pater. It was with a heavy heart that Cor left Insomnia for his mission and headed to the enemy of the state; Niflheim.

Infiltration was a skill he had double downed on after losing to the Blademaster, and it found him pressed against a wall in a dim and cold building in the middle of a snowy hell. Reading Niff was not his strong point, so the name of the Imperial Compound stayed unknown, but the papers and folders full of technical drawings and USBs of information would still be useful for the translators back in Lucis.

Footsteps echoed along the hall and he wedged into a tiny alcove, two figures in white lab coats passing, chatting in Imperial Niff, then turned a corner. Certain it was clear, he looked down the hallway to the door they had come from, and ran, jamming his foot in the doorway to stop it closing all the way, the keypad beside the frame indicating it would lock upon contact.

He peeked around the door, finding no one, and slid through the gap, letting the door close behind him. It was dark, almost impossible to see, but he would not flick on the light, as it would let others know someone was in there. He fished his flashlight out of his pocket and clipped it to his jacket, turning it on. There were rows upon rows of tanks filled with identical bodies, with a crib placed at the very end of the row. A shiver ran down his spine as he walked between the rows, until he was in front of the crib.

Wires trailed into the crib, a tube from above leading down into a small port embedded in the stomach of a tiny baby. The blond fuzz on the head and the pale skin indicated Niff heritage, which both relieved and horrified him. At least it was not a Lucian child, but that they were experimenting on their own people was just as horrific.

Bright lavender-blue eyes were staring up at him from the mass of monitoring pads and wires, tiny feet tiredly kicking as a hand reached for the blurry figure above. Cor’s heart thud against his ribs as he saw the lack of weight the child sported – Noctis was growing to be a healthy chubby baby as they should at his age, yet this child looked to be almost skin and bone already. He pulled off his gloves and reached in and hooked his finger in the grip of the tiny digits, his vision blurring as he felt the weakness in the hold.

Cor checked the tube leading to the port, slipping his finger free to follow it along to the source, and gagged – a large canister of something viscous and black locked into place, a timer on for release. He saw it roiling and moving inside, gagged again as he realised they were going to pump this into that tiny baby.

He could not allow it.

He tried to pry the tubing from the canister but it remained welded there, so he went back to the crib and started to turn off the monitoring equipment, removing the pads from the soft, pale skin before he was investigating the small port. Though he was not a medic, he at least managed to find that it was not a wide gaping hole, but a cannula that fit into the baby that could be stoppered until he got the kid back to Insomnia.

With a gentleness he had only displayed with Noctis, he pulled the tubing from the cannula and reached in, lifting the small body out and pulling it to his chest to hold. The baby was too light, and cold to touch – not crying, he assumed the baby had learnt no one would listen to it crying – wearing no nappy to keep from dirtying the scratchy fabric he had laid on either.

Fashioning a nappy from one of the sheets was easy, and it tied snugly around the baby. He grabbed another small sheet and tied it higher up his waist, over his jacket, before picking the baby back up and sliding him into the warmth and zipping it back up. The sheet stopped his new acquisition from falling out of the underneath, and he would warm the tot up with his body heat.

Small sniffles cracked his normal composure and he looked into his jacket to check. He got a face full of Omega scent – his Alpha instincts screamed for him to soothe and protect this little Omega life – and he gently rumbled in his chest. The boy nuzzled against his shirt and the little fingers tried to hold on tight.

“We’re getting out of here,” Cor whispered. A Promise.

Collecting up the last papers in the room, he stuffed those into the backpack he had, slung it on, and made for the door. He pulled on his gloves, slammed his palm on the button that unlocked the door and pulled it open. The hallways were empty, and he kept to the shadows as he moved, trying to find his way out with haste. His arms held the baby against him as he wedged into a few alcoves on the way, ducked between vending machines and slid into bathrooms to avoid scientists, guards and anyone else.

Finally getting out into the snow was not as much of a shock to the system as he would have thought. The halls of the compound had been freezing, explained why everyone tried to walk so fast. He trudged through a foot of snow, ducked through a hole he had made in the fencing, and trekked towards his snowmobile. He had stored it in a small cave to avoid losing it to patrols, then hiked the hour to the Imperial Compound – hindsight was 20/20 and he wished he had left it closer now he had the small baby to care for too. But there was nothing he could do but get there as fast as possible, and drape the emergency blanket he had stolen from one of the rooms  around his front to add extra heat.

Miserable whines emanated from under the blanket and jacket, breaking his heart with every shiver he felt. He cradled the little form to try to keep him warm; taking the boy out in the middle of the wind to put him under his other layers would be too dangerous.

Cor almost felt like the Astrals’ were trying to bless him as he found the cave again, thankfully after less than an hour as he had tried to up the pace on the way back. Out of the wind, he checked down his jacket and saw sweet little eyes looking back up at him, with a tinge of blue to tiny little lips.

Pulling an arm into his jacket, he used it to start pulling his layers of tee shirts and jumpers up, tucking them over the baby’s head as best as he could. One side finished, he slipped his arm back through the jacket sleeve and pulled in the other one to finish the job, until he had the baby secured again and warmer hopefully. The tiny cold nose rubbed against his chest and he could feel the little mouth against his skin – for a moment he thought the baby was trying to latch on to breastfeed but that notion passed when the little form just purred and stayed buried into his chest.

“Just trying to warm your face up, huh?” Cor asked softly, looking down the neck of his clothing. “You do what you need to, kid. I’ll get you somewhere warm and safe.”

 

The snowmobile ride was long. The goggles he wore to keep from being snow-blinded from the floating flakes, and the glare of the sun off the pure white surface, felt welded to his face and he was sure he would never regain full feeling in his toes ever again. However, for all that he had hated every minute of being in Niflheim, there was one thing he could not hate, could not wish to take back.

Finally in some warm room at a motel on the outskirts of Niflheim, away from the snow, he settled the little blond baby down into a nest of blankets and pillows, and went to warm up a small cup of formula milk that he had picked up. He had no bottles, but Cor could work around that, instead finding a small Ziploc bag and cleaning it out. He poured the warmed formula into it and twisted the top closed, snipped off a tiny bit of the corner, and held it shut as he went over to the baby.

Sitting on the bed, he offered the opened corner to the baby and watched as he suckled with difficulty. “You can do it, kiddo. Come on.”

The boy soon got used to the strange form of feeding and was guzzling down the formula, Cor exhaling soft laughs at the speed with which the tiny form was taking in the milk. “You needed that, huh? Look how quickly you finished it.”

The boy whined and wriggled, stuffing a tiny fist into his mouth to suck on, so Cor stood back up and went to make another back of the formula, pouring it into the bag and bringing it back for the boy to guzzle down again.

“You’re going to need a name,” Cor spoke to fill the silence. “Can’t keep calling you kiddo. What should we go with?”

The baby wriggled with excitement as he guzzled every bit of formula down, and then whined for more.

“Okay, I’ll have it done pronto.”

He blinked as the boy squealed.

“Pronto?” He tried.

Another squeal.

“We can’t call you that. What about something similar?” Cor frowned to try to think of something that would work. “Pronto.”

The baby would squeal and wriggle with each recital of the word. Cor could not help the corners of his mouth pulling up into a small smile at the sight. “Pronto. Pronto,” he tried repeating; see if anything would work that way. “Pronto, Promto, Promto, Prompto.”

A sweet giggle left the boy.

“Prompto? You like that one?” Cor was glad to see that another Ziploc bag of formula was not on the cards after the third. “I think we can work with that one. Prompto.”

He set the trash aside and reached into the little nest, picking Prompto up and cradling him against his shoulder, rubbing his hand up and down the baby’s back to burp him the way he would do with Noctis.

“Well then. Hello, Prompto. My name is Cor. I’m going to take you back to my home with me, and we’ll find somewhere safe and warm and loving for you,” he said softly, noting the tiny nose rubbing against his bare shoulder. “But until then, I’ll keep you safe and warm. Keep on keeping on, Prompto.”

 

He managed to steal some warm clothes and nappies for Prompto from a nearby store, dressing the baby as carefully as he would Noctis. Prompto seemed to be completely fascinated with him, always watching and trying to touch or sniff at him, and Cor could feel his heart melting each time he saw the happiness on that little face at the simple touches and affection he gave the boy.

He had managed to snag a baby sling from the store too, so he put that on over his clothes and slid Prompto into it, before pulling on his jacket. Now he had a better way to hold Prompto and have his hands completely free for the rest of the journey. First, he would have to go into Tenebrae and travel to Accordo, before ferrying over to Lucis where he could rent a Chocobo to get back to the capital. While on paper it seemed a short journey, Cor knew from experience it was going to take weeks, so he made sure to pack up formula, pick up some bottles, and find a camping set with a camping stove so he would be able to warm the food up. Good thing he could access Reggie’s armiger. Camping gear and bottles and formula all went in, the information stuffed backpack joining it so Regis could take it later, and Cor was ready to begin the journey home in earnest.

“It’s going to get bumpy, Kiddo,” Cor warned down his jacket, smiling at the little gurgles and noises Prompto gave him. “But I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Getting into Tenebrae was easy; he hiked into the country without trouble through some mountainous areas and avoided getting close to any well-known areas the Empire might be keeping a close eye on, with only a few stops to warm a bottle or change a nappy along the way. Walking while feeding Prompto seemed to work, so what he lost in stopping, he made up for in feeding time. But night time was too dangerous to continue trekking in, so he was forced to stop at the seedier motels and rent a room. With a little extra gil chucked their way, the owners would not question a thing, or acknowledge that he had ever existed, leaving any sign of him out of the books.

Those nights with Prompto were precious, as he would make a tiny nest for the baby Omega, and curl up around it to watch Prompto try to catch his own feet, or tug at Cor’s fingers. With the baby’s development in mind, he managed to procure a small Chocobo plushie that he tucked into the sling beside Prompto and watched as the lavender-blue eyes went wide in fascination. Tiny fingers felt the soft ‘feathers’ and tried to squeeze on the crest. Prompto even managed to pull the beak to his mouth to taste it and found it was comforting to hold there as if to suckle on it, only letting go when it was time for his bottle or nappy change. Every day Cor learned something new about Prompto. He hated the cold – off course, the poor kid had been practically tortured in cold labs from birth – and loved bright colours. He hated creepy crawlies, as evidenced by an incident in a motel room involving Prompto cuddling his Chocobo and a spider daring to cross over his legs, resulting in the most horrified little shriek the baby could give until Cor had gotten rid of it. Prompto loved his food, would guzzle down two bottle’s worth at a time if given the chance, and Cor was willing to indulge as the boy was starting to pack on some healthy weight. Little gaunt cheeks became rounded and squishy as they should be, and little rolls of baby fat at the joints of his legs, hips, elbows, wrists and ankles appeared.

Cor’s intermittent reports back to Clarus by phone only mentioned Prompto in passing, warning his friends he was bringing home one of the live experiments and that medical would need to check him out. Clarus had been particularly intrigued.

“What sort of experiment would you name a he and need checking? Leonis, what have you done?”

If Cor had refused to answer that one, it was his prerogative.

They reached Accordo, and the weather was warming up, so Cor bought some more clothes for Prompto that were suitable for the warmth and changed his own to a less heavy set, with a lighter jacket. He also took to letting the jacket stay partially unzipped to give Prompto the chance to look around a bit, when he was not napping or burbling to his Chocobo friend. The new smells and colours kept the baby’s rapt attention as Cor brought them closer to Altissia with each day – he swore Prompto had managed to scent the seawater as they reached the outskirts of the main city, as Prompto had scrunched up his little nose and let out a noise of pure disgust. Apparently, the smell of sea salt, fish, and seaweed was not a particular favourite. Cor agreed, too much time spent waiting out Regis’ need to fish for hours on end when they travelled together embedding the smell into the category of ‘oh Six not again’.

“Yeah, I’m not too fond of it either,” Cor chuckled. He pet the soft blond hair that was growing like a weed on Prompto’s head and made his way towards one of the Gondola stations. He had an old friend to stop in on for a night or two.

He let Prompto look down into the water and smiled at the complete joy as the baby tried to reach for it. He dipped his hand into the water and brought it up, letting the tiny baby touch his hand and feel the cool liquid. “That’s water. Altissia is built on lots of it, and they use these boats to get around.

The Gondolier smiled at them. “Cute little kiddo, Must be hard alone.”

Cor nodded, playing along. “A little. But he’s easy.” Prompto gurgled and wriggled, patting his chest and snuffling against him. Seemed it was close to naptime. He buried his nose into the soft blond fluff and gently rocked with the gondola to try to encourage the baby to sleep. Prompto drifted off with the wing of his plushie in his mouth and a hand gripping Cor’s shirt. They reached the stop he had asked for, and Cor climbed out slowly, thanking the Gondolier, and entered Maagho.

“Look who it is,” came the familiar voice. “I did not think I would be seeing you any time soon.” It was warm, friendly, and a balm to the stress he had been under trekking through Tenebrae and Niflheim. “And who is this with you?”

“Weskham,” Cor greeted, letting the warmth of the café  relax him a little, shaking the man’s hand fondly. “I’m just stopping by. I was hoping you would help me stock up for the journey home. Need to get this little guy all he needs for it.” He did not dare wake the baby, letting Prompto sleep tended to be the best option to avoid revenge in the form of really bad nappies in the middle of the night.

“What’s his name?” Weskham pulled the sling a little to look at the baby properly. “A Niff?”

Cor checked they were truly alone and then nodded. “I found him in an Imperial Compound, skin and bones. They were going to pump him full of something, so I had to get him out of there. I’ve called him Prompto, as he likes to get his food as quick as possible. Sweet little kid.”

Weskham smiled. “I can hear the fondness in your voice. I can get the necessary supplies, and have the ferry ticket ready for first thin in the morning. For now, why don’t we get the two of you upstairs and you can take a break?”

Settling Prompto into a makeshift nest to nap, he relaxed on the small sofa, stretched out and able to hang his legs over the end. He needed his own nap after the trekking he had been doing, but was reluctant to relax too much when little Prompto could need him at any moment. Weskham carried over a tray with coffee cups steaming on it, settled it onto the small coffee table and sat down in the armchair.

“How long have you been away from home?”

Cor had to stop and think, to calculate it, before he sighed. “Two months. Shorter time than I expected, but the Compound was more of a nightmare than expected. There were pods, with people inside. And they were experimenting on each and every one. Not to mention what they were doing to Prompto.”

“Tell me all about it,” Weskham offered as he relaxed.

Cor was able to offload his thoughts to his old friend with a relief that made the tension in his shoulders drop and the ache in his back fade as each vertebrae realigned from his laying position.

“An adventure for sure,” Weskham concluded at the end of the tale. He looked to the baby still sleeping in the nest on the floor. “No little wonder you rescued the child. He is lucky you were there.”

“Yeah. Nevertheless, I’m also worried about what his bad start will mean for him. I know I won’t be taking care of him in Insomnia, that would be too problematic, but I want him to have a good home and life,” Cor exhaled with a sadness in his expression. “He’s a sweet little boy.”

“Because of your job?” Weskham asked. “Or because of the little Prince?”

Cor looked over to Weskham, gaze sharp. “Wesk, what do you know?”

“I’ve seen pictures of him, Reggie sent a couple. Anyone who has seen your younger features will see how much Noctis takes after you. He has Reggie’s nose and mouth though.”

“I’ll have to make sure my old pictures don’t come up. We’re making sure no-one knows,” Cor sighed.

“Ah, or you’d be forced to take the position of King and remove the Lucis Caelum line from power,” Weskham nodded. “Best not to let anyone know then. Young Noctis, however, is an Alpha?”

“Yeah,” the corners of his mouth sneaked up into a secret smile for his secret son, “he gets upset if I get too close to Regis, makes those baby growling sounds at me. He’s fine if it’s just me and him when I look after him for half hour while his Pater showers or gets in a moment or two alone, but the moment Regis comes back, Noctis growls at me.”

“Hm, takes after his Father.”

Cor chucked a cushion at Weskham for that. He leaned off the edge of the sofa a moment later when Prompto whimpered in his sleep, gently rubbing the baby’s chest and belly to remind the baby he was there. “Shh, you’re safe, Prompto. Nothing can get you here.”

Weskham seemed to watch with hawk eyes at the interaction, a smile on his face that promised Cor endless teasing one day when he was old and still trying not to let on that he was a good Father.  Weskham stood and took his cup with him to go back down to Maagho “Get some sleep, Cor. I’ll arrange everything and you can head off early in the morning. I’m sure the baby will wake you when he needs you.”

“Hm, he’s good at that,” Cor settled back on the sofa and dropped an arm over his eyes. “Multiple times a night.”

“That’s what babies do, Cor,” Weskham held back his laugh. He pat the younger man on the shoulder, and left the two to sleep.

 

Cor yawned as he boarded the ferry. The sun had not even fully risen yet, and Prompto was asleep in the sling, but the earliest start possible had been the best option. He settled into a seat, hard and plastic, and curled his arms around the baby and set his head against the cool wall behind the chair. The journey would take the best part of the day so he settled in to doze off while he had the chance, as Prompto would no doubt be awake soon enough and need attention, feeding and a nappy change.

He must have dozed for longer than he expected to, as he woke to Prompto crying. He checked the nappy, thankfully not needing changing, and then got out a bottle wrapped in a warming sleeve and checked it, before trying to feed the baby.

Prompto managed to get through a quarter of the bottle before he was wriggling and crying, confusing Cor. “What’s the matter, Kiddo?”

The baby barely opened his mouth before he was spitting up all over Cor’s tee.

Fuck.

Cor rushed to grab the wipes from the backpack and cleaned up Prompto, then tried to wipe off his tee-shirt. He had a spare but he was hoping to save that for later in the journey. “What happened there, Prompto?” He asked, quiet and concerned. But Prompto did not speak, of course, so all he could do was see if the baby would take his bottle again.

Prompto refused.

Instead, he rubbed his head against the clean shoulder of Cor’s tee and burbled with a tiny frown on the cute little face.

“Yeah, I guess I wouldn’t want to eat right away either.” Cor threw the wipes away and settled back again with a tight hold on the baby. “You just sleep.” He thought the rocking of the boat would help but it seemed to agitate Prompto, who started crying again. “Oh, Prom,” Cor sighed.

He tried to help steady the rocking and kissed the soft blond locks. When he finally got Prompto to stop crying, he picked up the bottle to try feeding him again. This time Prompto took the bottle with no problem, though he was not guzzling down the formula like normal. He seemed to be enjoying the sucking more than the milk, but Cor was fine with letting him do what he wanted.

The water was choppy, the wind chilly and Cor wanted to curl up to block it but the seats were too small to allow it. Prompto was miserable, with each rock of the boat, and was not above showing it. Cor gagged when it came to time to change Prompto’s nappy, apparently the rocking had caused a very upset stomach, and he was paying for it from the smell.

“Six, Prompto, are you trying to kill my sense of smell?” Cor was grateful the ferry was open air on the top deck. Prompto’s response had been to pee on Cor’s tee. After getting the baby’s nappy changed and putting the warmer clothes back on the upset baby, Cor had the pleasure of pulling off the wet tee-shirt and wiping himself off with more baby wipes and pulling on the clean tee-shirt and stuffing the wet one into a bag for dirty clothing.

“Not one word out of you, Kiddo,” Cor told the baby, aware he looked like a madman kneeling over a baby telling them not to say anything but not bothered by that. It got Prompto to giggle at least, the baby finding the tone more than the words amusing no doubt. Cleaned up and dry once more, Cor settled Prompto into his sling and decided to sit in a new space, letting Prompto look over his shoulder at the line of the horizon. He remembered Clarus had gotten seasick a lot and the horizon trick had worked, maybe it would somehow help the baby. All he knew was that he was willing to try anything.

An hour later, Prompto was asleep on his shoulder and Cor was seconds away from dozing off himself.

 

The lights in Galdin Quay were pretty, he would give them that, but he was more interested in the way Prompto stared at them in fascination from his position laid out on one of the benches while Cor waited for dinner, and for the warming bottle. Out of the sling, Prompto was free to kick his feet around as much as he wanted, even as he held his Chocobo plushie tight to his chest and sucked at the beak. The twinkling of the lights held the tiny baby’s attention, so there was no worrying rolling attempts.

“You like those, huh?” Cor asked Prompto, voice soft and calm, affectionate almost. The little burbles and noises from Prompto were almost confirmation, but it was the wide eyes and the delighted little squeals that gave it away. In the back of his mind, Cor noted to recommend to Prompto’s new parents that they put up fairy lights for him. The tiny Omega did not even cry about being hungry, even when the bottle arrived and Cor had to wait for it to cool a little – Prompto was soon guzzling down his formula, staring up at the lights with tiny fingers wrapped around his chocobo’s wing.  “Yeah I knew you were hungry really. Who knew it just took lights to stop you crying.”

The baby was in such a good mood that there was no revenge for that comment. Instead, Prompto cooed and tried to reach for the lights when Cor burped him, and then settled down to watch them some more as the man ate his own dinner. Tomorrow would be the start of a new adventure – he would need to rent a Chocobo to travel on, and he wondered how Prompto would react to the living, breathing version of the plushie he so fervently adored. Cor could only hope it would go well.

He splurged on a hotel room at Galdin for the night and settled a sleeping Prompto into a little nest on one-half of the large double bed before going to shower. Done, he settled in next to Prompto and fell asleep almost as quick as the little one had.

Morning came too fast for his liking, but Cor got Prompto fed and ready, and once Cor himself was dressed and prepared, tucked the baby into the sling and checked out of Galdin. There was a Chocobo rental post at the end of the pier, by the car park, so he jogged down to that and paid for as many days as he could. Might as well get the best out of his money, just in case they got delayed.

The Chocobo turned up quick enough, and Cor reached up to pet along its neck, surprised as the bird leaned down and ran its beak over baby soft blond hair. Prompto’s squeak of surprise seemed to confirm to the Chocobo that this was a tiny Chocochick, and it needed to protect the Chocochick and Chocochick’s parent. Cor turned a little and gently bounced Prompto before introducing him.

“Prompto, this is a big Chocobo. Like your toy.” Cor watched the lavender-blue eyes widen as much as they had with the lights and waited for the reaction, the Chocobo leaning in to nuzzle the baby’s hair again. Tiny fingers brushed the feathers on the bird’s neck and that was it.

Prompto was smitten. Those little fingers tried to grip the feather’s, and those wide eyes sparkled with joy at the big bird, the coos and burbles fast and eager as he seemed to try to pull himself out of the sling and onto the Chocobo. Cor held him tight, but laughed at the shocked delight when the Chocobo let out a happy ‘Kweh!’ and Prompto let out a noise to imitate it in his tiny baby way.

“I think it likes you, Prom,” Cor chuckled, watching the bird and baby interact, patient though they really needed to get going.

Prompto’s fingers gently brushed against the Chocobo’s beak, and then Cor decided it was time to move on, in case the Chocobo mistook the tiny fingers for something to eat. He took the reins and stepped his foot up into a stirrup, hauled his other leg over to settle in the saddle. Prompto was trying to look around for the big bird, getting fussy when he could not see, so Cor managed to turn the baby in the sling so he was facing outwards to see the world around him.

At least the Chocobo was fine with the baby taking hold of feathers when he got the chance. Cor saved the naturally shed feather’s and tucked them in beside Prompto throughout the run. He planned for them to go up the Vannath coast and to Saulhend pass, but he spotted an Imperial regiment landing. While he was up to fight, there was no way he could risk them finding Prompto, so he had to turn to the Fallgrove instead. That added hours onto their journey, even more when he realised that he would need to go closer to the Disc of Cauthess because of another Imperial drop.

The tunnel terrified Prompto, the flashing lights from passing them making the baby cry, so Cor turned him back around to face him and carried on, letting the tiny Omega bury his face into the safety of the plushie.

Dark fell as he neared the Disc, so he directed the Chocobo to a haven. He had not ruled out camping, thankfully, so he set up the tent and got a campfire going, whilst the Chocobo laid down next to Prompto and settled a large wing over the baby. Prompto cooed and squealed in delight as the large bird nuzzled his head and ensured he was well covered, so Cor left them to it as he warmed up a bottle for Prompto and a can of beans for himself. The problem came when Cor approached the Chocobo to pick up Prompto.

“Kweh!” It squawked into his ear when it decided he was too close.

“I need to feed the baby,” Cor told the Chocobo, and ended up flat on his arse as the Chocobo pushed him over with its head.

“Kweh!”

 Standing up to argue with the Chocobo – seriously, what is his life – Cor held the bottle out instead of his finger to point at it. “I need. To feed. The baby.”

“Kweh!”

And down he went to his arse. Again. This time, though, Prompto must have heard him curse, as the baby burst into tears. This was not helpful at all, as the Chocobo puffed up and tried to nuzzle the baby into quiet, protecting the little one from whatever was making it cry. Cor rubbed his forehead and stood back up, attempted to retrieve Prompto once more, and again, ended up flat on his arse. Which he could feel bruising.

It was a cacophony of Prompto’s cries, Cor’s cursing and the Chocobo Kwehing, - until it happened. The smell. Upset and frightened, Prompto’s tummy had rebelled and released its foul revenge.

That was when the Chocobo backed off.

“Seriously? You won’t let me feed him, but the moment he stinks you’re practically pushing him at me,” Cor was not amused.

He set the bottle aside and picked Prompto up, taking him across the camp and putting him on the new changing mat. Cor was an expert at the quick clean up and change by now, so he was soon sitting on one of the camping chairs, Prompto cradled in his arms happy and clean again, and gave the baby his bottle.

“Don’t even think about it, bird,” Cor warned the Chocobo that tried to get in close. “Or I’ll find a Behemoth and feed you to it.”

“Kweh!”

Prompto was slower to eat, eyes blinking closed before a sudden awakening every few sucks. Poor kid had tired himself out with the excitement of meeting a Chocobo, and then the fear and upset. Alone with just the baby and the Chocobo, Cor decided he could get away with humming the baby to sleep.

That night found him sleep in the tent with a tiny Prompto on his chest and a Chocobo curled up around them both.

The easy sleep ended by clipping of multiple little spikes onto stone. The side of the tent ripped open by huge pincers. Cor rolled up, summoning his sword from the armiger, and sliced into the huge hundleg. The Chocobo, woken by the noises, squawked and picked Prompto up by the back of his little trousers, holding him well up out of the way.

With the tent ruined, Cor threw it aside to try to get rid of the hundlegs, missing a bite that would take off his leg by a millimetre and rolling across the haven. Another one knocked him back outside of the protective sigils and into the dark, where tentacles suddenly grabbed around his neck and he was lifted from his feet. A Mindflayer. Fuck.

It was a mess.

Prompto was shrieking in fright a the hundleg feelers rubbed against his feet as it reared up, the Chocobo was puffed up, waving its wings and jumping to claw at the huge insect, while Cor was choking, pulling at the slimy tentacles around his neck before the Mindflayer could pull him all the way up.  

The Chocobo’s claw found its way past the tough chitin and clawed down its abdomen, eviscerating the huge bug, and Cor knew that Prompto would be safe in the bird’s beak. So he made a choice to focus, and changed his grip on his sword, thrusting it up and over his head and into the daemon. The tentacles around his neck started to loosen, so he pulled it out and thrust the sword back in a little to the right, twisting it to wriggle across and cut the Mindflayer open.

He dropped to the floor – again, why the arse? – and groaned, pushing himself to stand using his sword to help with the leverage. Up on his feet, he pulled the sword from the ground and spun, throwing his arm out straight to slice the Mindflayer’s lower tentacles clean off. With those gone, it was easier to slice upwards, splitting the daemon in half until it fizzled out into blackness.

The Chocobos squawks were a loud reminder that there was still a set of bugs to deal with, and he ran barefoot over the sharp rocks at the edge, jumping up onto the haven and leaving bloodied footprints on it to stab the insect in the head and drag it away from the panicking bird and baby. It took him hacking at the pincers a few times to cut them off before they could close on his legs, and the bug finally skittered away in a panic. That left one more.

Cor checked around and found it trying to make its way behind them, and no way was Cor letting that happen. With his feet bleeding, he chased it across the haven and jammed his sword between the pincers and straight through the head.

When he finally fell on his arse again, it was his own doing as he panted, trying to catch his breath. The Chocobo strut over and then leaned down, settling Prompto onto his lap as if to say ‘this is your prize’.

“Yeah, you’re not such a problem either, bird.”

The first aid kit dropped from the armiger when he reached for it, and he unwrapped the gauze pads and bandages, the antiseptic wipes ripped open to clean up the small wounds on the sole of his feet, before he wrapped them. Grabbing socks from his backpack, he pulled them on to secure everything in place. In his lap, Prompto was still crying. Cor picked him up and cradled him against his chest, rocking them both a little. “You’re safe, kiddo. You’re safe.”

He decided to stay on guard for the night and made off just as the sun rose.

 

The next stop they found was Wiz’ Chocobo post. Cor was sure that someone, somewhere, had it out for him. Whilst he and the Chocobo had come to an agreement, it had also decided to look after Cor a lot more too. It ran slower to avoid upsetting Prompto, and when they stopped, it would nuzzle the back of Cor’s head.

“Aww that’s one of my best girl’s you’ve got there,” Wiz said before any complaint was voiced. “She’s protective, and likes to take care of those she’s with. Loves kids.”

“That explains it,” Cor answered, bouncing Prompto a little. The baby squealed, and the Chocobo ‘Kweh’ed loudly in response. “I-She’s been preening his hair non-stop.”

Wiz laughed setting down a sandwich in front of Cor. “He looks like a Chocochick to her. Sweet little baby though. How old is he?”

Cor had been thinking over Prompto’s age. The paperwork he had collected had nothing resembling a birthday on them, so he had to go by rough development. “Nearly three months,” he had finished out. Until he was told otherwise, he would go with that.

“So young to be travelling with.” Wiz nodded. “Good luck.”

He decided to say the day and night, to recover from the ordeal at the Haven, and to give Prompto time to settle and probably enjoy the Chocobos that were so curious about him. Cor ate his sandwich and sat on the floor with Prompto in his lap, giving the baby his bottle while a few of the fat and feathery Chocochicks gathered around them to investigate this little creature with hair the colour of their feathers. One jumped onto Cor’s leg and hopped along to nibble at Prompto’s hair, leaving the baby to drop the bottle from his mouth and reach for the yellow feathers. Cor just encouraged the bottle back into Prompto’s mouth while the baby cuddled the Chocochick in his lap.

What was his life?

Prompto was loving it. There was no bad in his world, with Chocochicks fussing over him, the adult Chocobos preening him and that was without noting Wiz’s wife who just could not stop cooing over the baby.

“He’s just so cute!” Mrs Forlane held Prompto’s tiny feet in her hands and kissed the clean soles. “Prompto is the perfect name for him; he’s so quick to get things. A clever little boy.”

“He’s quick to eat too,” Cor agree.  “He’s sweet. Very good eater, and loves his sleep.”

Mrs Forlane cooed as she picked Prompto up and kissed his cheek, listening to his sweet burbles and the soft giggle. “So precious.”

Cor watched her with the baby, and considered whether she and Wiz would be good parents for Prompto, but also knew he had to present the baby to the King as part of his discovery. He would have to find people living in Insomnia.

However, he could leave the baby with the woman while he earned a little extra gil for the final push. He thanked her for looking after Prompto and went to speak to Wiz.

“Well, there has been something causing problems nearby. A lot of the Chocobos are getting too wary to leave.” Wiz rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. “Whatever it is, it’s somewhere nearby. We’ve been trying to get a hunter out here but they’re all busy.”

“Mrs Forlane said she’ll watch Prompto, so I can take the job.”

“My Lissa will have that baby well fed and fast asleep soon enough.”

It was a relief to have some time away from the baby, as he stalked through the misty crag. It was the last place to look for whatever was terrifying the Chocobos and he had a feeling that he would find it soon. Careful footsteps kept him from stepping in the holes dug into the floor, and his hand rest on the hilt of his sword, wearing it against his side for easy access.

A smell permeated the air. Like a wet mutt and dog breathe. It grew stronger as he stalked further into the mist as it thickened and clung to his skin in droplets. A carcass lay against the rocks to one side, a huge chunk taken from the middle, and he crouched to check the tooth pattern.

“Behemoth.”

Six-be-damned, a Behemoth. From the shape and size of the chunk, it was a juvenile, but even then the creature was huge and Cor was at risk of having an arm ripped off. But he had a baby to protect, and a favour to pay back for seeing to Prompto’s needs without asking for anything else.

He stalked forward, headed further into the mist as it plastered his hair against his forehead. His hand wiped the droplets away and slid back to try to plaster his fringe with the rest of his hair and he panted from the humidity.

A deep growl stopped him in his tracks, his back ramrod straight, and he closed his eyes.

“Aaah fuck,” he muttered under his breath.

He twisted on his foot and swung his sword in an arm as he turned, slicing into the snout of an 18 foot tall Behemoth juvenile.

It roared in agony, reared back and snapped forward and clamped its jaw down where Cor had stood seconds before.

He rolled side, pushing himself into another roll the opposite way as the Behemoth chomped down again, just barely avoiding becoming a snack.

Cor had barely a second to try to work out a strategy while dogging each chomp of the Behemonth’s jaws and he tried to find an advantage.

He turned and ran, finding a much easier area to see in and started to pull himself up onto a huge boulder, leaped onto the snout and clambered up the face of the beast. He gripped the hair at its head and held on tightly as it swung its head back and forth to shake him off, his sword dangling from his other hand.

He only had one real option.

Cor raised his sword and cocked his arm back, then thrust the sword into the beast’s right eye, jamming it against the bone of the socket near the back. It would not kill the creature, but it would blind it.

Another roar and Cor let go, flying off and into some thick bramble bushes. Blood gushed down the Behemoth’s face as it rocked its head back and forth, paws swiping at its face to clear whatever was there, before charging off into the mist.

Cor took in the state of his clothing and the thorns stabbing into him before dropping his head back.

“Oh, fuck my life.”

 

Prompto had been happy to see him, at least, as he finally trudged into the Chocobo post with thorns in his arse and ripped clothes. Mrs Forlane had taken one look at him and covered her mouth, but he could see the corners of it pull up into a smile and the crinkle of her eyes gave away that she was laughing at him.

Wiz was sent to fetch him clothes, and Mrs Forlane set Prompto on the table in front of Cor, where she had him bend over, trousers and pants around his ankles, while she pulled thorns from his pale white arse.

Prompto would not stop patting him on the head and giggling.

 

Hammerhead turned out to be a good reprieve. For a moment. Until Cid came out, spotted Cor with the baby, and immediately keeled over laughing.

Prompto’s hair was all spiky from the Chocobo preening him, and Cor looked every bit the soldier until you factored in the baby attached to him. Curious little Prompto heard the laughing and looked around for the source but looked so confused.

The Chocobo was trying to preen at Cor’s hair from behind him.

“You-!” Cid tried to talk. He really did. However, the laughter was just too much. Instead, he pointed, laughed some more, and then dropped into his seat with a heavy thud to wipe away the tears.

“One word, Cid. One word. I dare you,” Cor was not amused. He swiped away the Chocobo, not that it helped much as she – a female he had found out, not it as she had taken offense to that – was right back to preening him a moment later.

“What the fuck happened to you, kid?” Cid’s laughter had only just abated enough to get words out, so Cor decided in revenge to take Prompto from his sling and dump him into Cid’s lap.

“Here, have a baby,” Cor grunted. “Classified mission.”

“So you picked up a baby?” Cid gently bounced Prompto. Of course the mechanic would be good with babies, the man raised his Granddaughter.

“He was in the mission; I couldn’t leave him there with what they were doing to him. He is only just put on enough weight to be healthy.” Cor watched Prompto look at Cid in curious compliance, before he very enthusiastically clocked the man in the face with the Chocobo plushie. “Good aim, Prompto.”

“He’s a cute little blighter.” Cid smiled and bounced Prompto again. “Cindy will love him.”

As if called by some divine force, a little five year old girl in dungarees and a top ran out, puffy blonde pigtails flopping with each flounce in her run. “Grandpa! I finished,” she grinned toothily, then tilted her head. “Who’s dat?”

Cid smiled. “This is Prompto. He’s here with my friend, Cor. Can you say hi to Cor?”

“Hi, Cor!” Cindy, he believed, cheered.

“Hello, Cindy.” Cor was tempted to back up and run but he stood his ground and took a seat at another chair, sat stiff and his hands pressed into his knees.

“I can play?” Cindy asked her Grandfather, reaching for Prompto.

“Don’t see why not. Sit on the floor with him and you can play with the toys with him,” Cid offered her, and Cor watched the girl run inside and return with an armful of toy cars.

Prompto seemed interested enough as he was leaned against the leg of the chair so he would not fall, his Chocobo plushie in his grasp as usual and the wing in his mouth. Cindy put the toys down in front of the baby and Prompto reached out and attempted to grip one, barely managing to pick up a red one.

“Dat’s a f’arri,” Cindy explained to Prompto, who just waved it around in the air like he was attempting to take off with it. “It goes fast!”

Prompto went to put it into his mouth and Cor leaned down to stop him, but Cindy beat him to it and pulled it back down, gentle and sweet.

“No, baby, you don’t eat dem.” Cindy giggled. “You push dem.” She picked up a blue car and pushed it along the ground; Prompto watched and leaned forward, pressing his car to the floor to imitate her.

“You’re on the last stop before Insomnia, what made you decide to take the time when you could have pressed on?” Cid was watching Cor with that look, the amused one he got when Cor needed something and he was going to have fun rejecting the request.

“I was hoping for a car for the last leg,” Cor said, reaching down to hold Prompto by the back of his clothing as the baby leaned too far forward.

Cid laughed.

Cor’s hope died.

“You’ve got a Chocobo, you don’t need the car.”

“Cid, please, if I have to ride that damn thing into the city I’m never going to live it down. Especially as it keeps _stealing the baby_.”

“Well he does look like a Chocochick.” Cid laughed.

“It’s not funny, Cid. Please, just give me a car, Regis is going to do something ridiculous if he finds me coming into the city with a Chocobo.” Cor was not going to plead. Not at all.

“At least he’ll text me with what he comes up with.” Cid pat Cor on the knee. “Take a break and grab lunch at Takka’s, though. Give the kids a chance to play before you head off.”

“I hate you.”

“Yeah, yeah, love you too, kid.”

Cid left him to watch over Cindy and Prompto playing, Cor scrubbing his hands over the back of his head, frustration building.

Fuck you, Cid.

 

Cid had stuck to his guns, refusing to give him a car.

“You crashed the Regalia! I’m repairing it bit by bit, why would I give you another car?”

“Regis was birthing in the back of the car, I was distracted!”

That had not been good enough of an excuse, according to Cid, so after lunch Cor had packed up Prompto into the sling, and hidden his new toy car in with him and the Chocobo plush, climbed up on the back of the Chocobo and started the journey into the city.

Most of it was a long trek down a simple road, little scenery around them, so Prompto slept with his head resting comfortably over Cor’s heart. The Chocobo ran with little bouncing as if able to sense the baby was asleep, and as they started finding more cars as they neared the city entry gates, the large bird was not phased.

The guard at the gate took in the appearance of the Marshal on top of a Chocobo with some strange thing over his chest, unable to see the baby, before just waving him through. The looks from people who saw him running through the city made him speed the Chocobo up, trying to keep unknown.

Fuck Cid.

The gate guard had obviously called ahead. Regis was standing on the front steps of the Citadel, Clarus ever at his side and Noctis ever in his arms as he finally reached his destination. He climbed down and pat the Chocobo, gave Regis a glare as he noted the wide grin on his King’s face. Clarus was trying to hold his mouth closed, soft snorts coming from his nose.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Cor muttered, giving his King a bow before stepping up closer. “Cid wouldn’t give me a car.”

“Well you seemed very comfortable with your new friend,” Regis said. Clarus snorted again, apparently finding it harder not to laugh. “Who is your passenger?”

Noctis attempted to lean over to look at who or what Cor was carrying, babbling and patting his Pater to try and get answers.

“We should go inside,” Cor responded, moved closer to let hiss King use his arm to lean on and gently snapped his teeth toward the growling Noctis. 

Clarus burst into laughter at the moment Cor felt it. That bloody bird was grooming him again. He turned to glare at it, shooed it away with one hand, and intended to let it just run back to the post. But every time they headed up the stairs, she followed them.

“Go. Home!” Cor snapped at the Chocobo. She gave him a flustered ‘Kweh!’ then stepped past him, ran up the stairs and made her way into the Citadel as if she owned it.

If it was not for Noctis, Cor imagined dropping the King to the floor as he laughed. But he was ever the dutiful Marshal and instead helped Regis up the stairs and into the Citadel, the King and his Shield giggling as they tried to regain their composure.

“We will go to the throne room,” Regis stated, let go of Cor’s arm to wipe his eyes, then held on again as they walked. “Your new friend will need the space,” he managed before bursting into laughter again, Clarus losing it a second later.

“One day, Regis, one day. You wait.”

They eventually made it to the throne room, with the Chocobo in tow, and baby then the noise had woken Prompto. So he gently took Prompto out of the sling and held him for Regis and Clarus to see.

“This is Prompto.”

“What a strange name they gave him just to experiment,” Clarus said, inspecting the baby.

“I named him. He had no name when I rescued him.” Cor noted the flash through Regis’ eyes, the Omega King ever loving to children. “I have some photo’s of the state of him when I found him. He was stick thin, but I’ve managed to get him to a healthy weight. He loves his food.”

Noctis let out a squeal and leaned more to get close to this new person, sniffing at the blond baby and then babbling a long string of words. His little hands reached for the other baby as he wriggled to get closer.

Regis had to adjust his grip on Noctis. “Hush now, Night Light. This is Prompto. Can you wave hello?”

Noctis babbled and kept reaching. Prompto on the other hand looked frightened, cuddling his Chocobo closer and away from the new baby.

“He’s not going to take your Chocobo, Prompto,” Cor said, quiet and soft, moving Prompto closer to Noctis. “He just wants to say hello. Prompto, this is Noctis.”

Prompto burbled and reached a hand out to tap it lightly against Noctis’, squeaking in shock when Noctis held on. Regis gently made Noctis let go, then moved to sit on the lower set of stairs and put Noctis on the floor. Cor moved closer, setting Prompto down to join Noctis, and sat just behind the blond baby.

“See, he’s not going to take your Chocobo,” Cor reassured. The actual Chocobo in the room flapped and Kweh!’ed before she laid down to watch these new people with her Chocochick.

Noctis babbled loudly and tried to shuffle closer to Prompto, little hands reached for the slightly younger baby, and it was only when Prompto managed to fall forward straight onto Noctis that the little Alpha was happy. Tiny baby-growls of happiness erupted from Noctis as he wrapped his pudgy arms around the blond and nuzzled at his cheek.

Cor moved to help Prompto back up, but Noctis gave furious little growls at him. No! This was his little Omega! Cor was not to touch!

“First the Chocobo, now Noctis,” Cor snorted.

“He does seem like a sweet little boy,” Regis answered. The King looked fond, adoring his son and pleased that Noctis was so happy to cuddle the little blond.

Prompto cooed at Noctis and burbled, one hand gripped his Chocobo, the other gripped Noctis’ top. He sniffed at the Alpha in front of him and squealed, nuzzling under Noctis’ chin a little. Noctis seemed completely happy with this. The baby Alpha cuddled and nuzzled Prompto, the rumbling purr noise showed his delight at this tiny Omega cuddling with him.

“I will have the medical staff come and attend to him, and then we can arrange what to do with him,” Regis declared, waved a guard over and sent them to fetch the Doctors necessary. He looked to Cor after, corners of his mouth turned up lightly. “Do you intend to take Prompto in as your own?”

Cor saw how eager Regis was at the idea, but he knew what had to be done. “No.”

“No?” Regis was wide eyed in shock. “You do not want to…?”

“No. If I took him on, there would be a risk of other things coming to light. Besides, if Noctis is this fussy over Prompto so early, it might not be a good idea to raise them together,” Cor stated. The implication of Noctis’ sire and the connection it would give the boys caused Regis to nod.

“Yes, of course, you’re correct. Then we need to find him somewhere safe. Somewhere good. I will have a social worker come and give us some advice.” Regis took the boy’s safety seriously.

“Thank you.” Cor would miss Prompto, but this was for the best. “I would like the option to look in on him as perhaps an Uncle-figure. I do not want to lose contact completely.”

Regis gave that fond and understanding smile. “Of course. Now, after the Doctor’s clear Prompto, we can put him to bed in with Noctis just for the night and then begin the search in the morning. We shall talk more about the information you found tonight or tomorrow afternoon.” A lot of things to cover in a short amount of time.

The evening progressed with Regis, Cor and Clarus retiring to the office, Prompto and Noctis set together in the playpen the Omega King kept in the room just to have time with his baby. Noctis was determined to groom and cuddle the little Omega, and Prompto was completely baffled by the little Alpha’s behaviour and kept assuming he was out for the Chocobo.

Cor eventually had to remove the Chocobo so Prompto would relax enough to play. The Doctors came in and were careful as they picked Prompto up, but Noctis squealed and shrieked in anger as they prodded and poked the blond baby. When they finally set the tiny blond back into the playpen, Noctis practically pounced his ‘Mine’ and stated scenting him all over. Noctis huffed and glared at them for the duration of the meeting. With Prompto cleared, bedtime for the boys was arranged.

Once again, Noctis refused to let Prompto go. So the two babies were snuggled together in Noctis’ crib, the baby Alpha snuffling in against the baby Omega’s neck and falling asleep easily, while Prompto stuffed his little fist in his mouth to suck on and stared up at the ceiling, happily just burbling to himself.

Cor leaned over to say goodnight to both, earned a growl from Noctis which he just rolled with and wished the sleeping Alpha goodnight, then looked to Prompto. It was the little purr of contentment from the tiny Omega he had carried across Eos that caused a sharp pain in his chest at the thought of saying goodbye.

“I’m going to miss you, Prompto,” he spoke in soft tones, quiet and reserved. “But this is for the best. You need to be somewhere safe and with people who don’t have state secrets to hold. Where you can grow up normal and meet Noctis again when it is time. I’ll stop in on you, keep an eye on you. I’ll be Uncle Cor.”

Prompto burbled and purred, kicking his feet and yawning.

“One day I’ll explain everything to you, about where you’re from. For now, get some sleep and I’ll see you soon.”

Cor leaned in and kissed Prompto on the forehead, reached down and stroked the baby’s hair as he leaned on the edge of the crib.

“Sweet dreams.”

 

Cor was not strong enough to be there as the social worker took Prompto. He was nearby, ever hoping to keep track of the baby, and he knew Regis had put into force the fact Cor would know where Prompto was from this day forward so he would be able to visit. But handing the baby over was not possible.

Noctis shrieked and growled and screamed as the Social Worker took Prompto, the little blond sobbing himself as he cuddled his Chocobo, that he had made sure would go with Prompto no matter what.

He heard Regis cooing and shushing Noctis, the shrieks of his secret son louder as he heard the Social Worker leave the King’s Office and head down the hallway. Noctis was not calmed by the noises and cried, demanding and miserable, until he wore himself out.

Cor had himself holed up in the empty storage room opposite Regis’ office, watching through the cracked open door until the Social Worker was gone. He closed the door, leaned against the wall, limp and drained as he slid down to the floor. His knees pulled up close to his chest as he stared across at the boxes piled up in the dim light. His heart pounded against his ribs and it hurt as though someone had put a car on top of him. He felt a tickle on his cheek and reached up, a bug he assumed, but pulled his hand down to find it wet.

The storage room door slid open and Regis stepped in, carrying a still miserable but now quietly crying Noctis. He looked up at the King and watched him shuffle around to the other side of Cor and sit down, the Omega Royal leaning lightly against his arm.

“Oh, Cor. I’m so sorry,” Regis whispered.

And a dam in him broke, more tears rolled down his face and he leaned in to bury it against Regis’ neck. He had rescued Prompto, saved him from pain, travelled a vast distance with him, named him even, and he had had to let Prompto go.

Regis held him in that storage room as Cor Leonis, the Marshal, the Immortal, grieved for the life he could have had raising Prompto.


End file.
